


The Next Chapter

by princessmarinette (glassandroses)



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Books, Chat Noir Being Chat Noir, Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng Fluff, F/M, Fluff, Harry Potter References, Love Potion/Spell, Marichat, Mentioned Alya Césaire and Nino Lahiffe, Minor Alya Césaire/Nino Lahiffe, Spells & Enchantments, Witchcraft, Witches
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-30
Updated: 2019-07-12
Packaged: 2020-06-27 02:21:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,813
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19781272
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/glassandroses/pseuds/princessmarinette
Summary: When you find a stray cat on your balcony, soaking wet from the rain, it would be rude not to let him in... right?Previously published on Wattpad as both princessmarinette and hxllosweetie.





	1. Prologue

There are some people who like rainy days- love them, even. Marinette Dupain-Cheng was not one of those people.

"Alya, look outside. I'm not going anywhere in this type of weather. Even for waffles."

"C'mon, we always have waffles on Saturdays." Alya whined, and Marinette could almost see the exaggerated pout on her face.

"Alya, it's all the way on the other side of the city!" Marinette exclaimed with a sigh.

"That's why we take a bus!" Alya countered.

Marinette pinched the bridge of her nose between her fingers, knowing it was going to be near impossible to win this fight. It was hard to get Alya to give up on Ladybug stories and waffles, Marinette had learned over the course of their friendship. "Alright, Alya. If the rain clears up by tonight, we'll go. Okay?"

"Yay! Thank you!" Alya squealed. Marinette pulled the phone away from her ear, but not before she heard a loud crash from the other end of the call- probably one of Alya's younger siblings. "Oh, gotta go. Talk later. Bye!"

Marinette giggled, hanging up and setting her phone down on her desk. She continued to work on the beautiful blue dress she had started to make before Alya called. A few weeks ago, she had found a soft blue satin fabric at the store while she and her mother were out shopping, and it had become an early birthday present. She sewed the fabric together with her nimble fingers and almost got her finger pricked when she heard a tap at her window.

She turned, and shock and disbelief clouded her as she saw a stray kitty in the rain.


	2. Chapter One

Marinette blinked and rubbed her eyes, trying to see if her brain was just playing tricks on her- after all, it had been a very busy and exhausting school week. But nope, Chat Noir was still standing there, plain as day. He waved, and Marinette was so confused that she just waved back until she realized she should probably let him in.

She unlocked the glass door and slid it open as fast as she could. "Sorry! Sorry, sorry, I was just shocked and-"

"It's okay, don't worry." Chat said with a chuckle. He smiled, Marinette noticed, but his eyes were clouded with sadness. Marinette tried to ask him what was wrong, but she noticed he was still soaking wet and dripping rainwater on her floor.

"Oh! Um, let me go grab you some towels." She said and ran to her small bathroom across the bedroom.

Chat smiled at her back and looked around at her bedroom and it was, well, a bit girly for his taste. He then saw someone very familiar on the walls above her desk. He walked over to her desk and saw the pictures of him plastered onto her walls.

"Why- oh." He whispered as he saw her sewing machine. "That must be it."

"Here." Marinette said, shooting him out of his thoughts. He turned and grabbed the towel out of her hand. He began to dry off his hair. "Thanks."

Thoughts began to swim in Marinette's mind, dark and nowhere near innocent, but she pushed them back. She had to remind herself that she was in love with Adrien. "So, what made you stop by?"

"Well," he replied. "I was getting bored and since I don't exactly know where Ladybug lives, much less who Ladybug is, I decided to see you." Chat winked.

Marinette rolled her eyes and held in a giggle about how ironic that was. If only he knew. "So, a Saturday afternoon with bit of time to kill, what do you want to do?"

A beat of silence. Chat had expected her to turn him away, tell him to get his shit and go, but she invited him to stay. She wanted him to stay.

"You want to watch a movie?" Marinette added; her voice deadpanned as she swiveled around in her office chair. Chat shrugged from the edge of her bed that he was perched on.

Chat was enjoying his sweet time admiring Marinette's room (including the pictures of his civilian self, might I add). He noticed something out of the corner of his eye that most no one would notice seeing her room for the first time.

A small bookshelf and reading lounge were nuzzled into the corner of her bedroom. The shelf was filled from top to bottom with colorful books.

Chat abruptly stood and walked his way over to the lounge and sat on the edge of the seat. "You like to read?"

Marinette looked over to him and her cheeks naturally flushed pink. "Yeah, it's my other hobby."

Chat slid a book from the shelf and read the cover. "'Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows'. Hm, sounds interesting."

Marinette quirked an eyebrow. "Sounds interesting?"

"Yeah, never read it, might never read it, but it does sound interesting. I'll give it credit for that." Chat chuckled and put the book back where it was on the shelf.

"Wait, you've never read Harry Potter?" Marinette stared up at him in shock and disbelief.

"Nope. Never had time, I guess." Chat replied, shrugging.

Marinette ran to her desk. She grabbed her copy of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone and sat down on her bed. "C'mere."

Now it was Chat's turn to be shocked. "Wait, what? Why?"

"I said come here." She repeated stubbornly.

Chat carefully sat himself down on the edge of Marinette's bed. "What's this all about?"

"I'm going to tell you a bedtime story." She giggled. "You comfortable?"

* * *

Chat was _not_ comfortable.

He was sitting on the bed of the girl he might be developing a crush on, and she's reading him a bedtime story? Ha! How juvenile.

"Chapter One: The Boy Who Lived." Marinette cleared her throat and began reading. "Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say they were perfectly normal, thank you very much. They were..."

... and Chat zoned out.

He didn't zone out due to boredom, no, not that. He started staring at Marinette. Yes, it's impolite to stare, but he couldn't ignore her wide baby blue eyes fill with excitement as she read her childhood favorite story again. How the overhead fan kept blowing her hair out of place, so she had to repetitively tuck the loose strands back behind her ear. How her plump, pink lips annunciated every word with her beautiful, soft-spoken voice, that voice was a gift from the angels themselves. So was her smile, and her cute giggle, and how her rosy cheeks and the tip of her button nose turned red when she was flustered.

Wow. Chat was really falling for her. But what about Ladybug?

Well, Ladybug was amazing. She was so brave and smart, the way she can always find her way out of a problem in a snap. She was so outgoing and stunning, and she could always cheer him up on one of his rainy days.

But so could Marinette.

"... Mrs. Dursley had had a nice, normal day. She told him over dinner about..."

She was being so nice to him, keeping him out of the rain, telling him stories. Ladybug would have just pushed him away.

Amid Chat's daydreaming, he noticed so many things about Marinette and Ladybug were so... similar. They had the same voice, same hairstyle, same baby blue eyes. But there were many differences too, such as how Ladybug was so confident, and Marinette was so shy. Could it be possible...?

No. He will not jump to conclusions. If Ladybug wants to keep her identity a secret, then so be it. He wouldn't seek out ways to find the answer like Alya. It's just not something he would do.

"... He couldn't know that at this very moment, people meeting in secret all over the country were holding up their glasses and saying in hushed voices: "To Harry Potter - the boy who lived!" Marinette yawned, her eyes fluttering as the book slipped out of her hands and into her lap. Chat looked outside, and it had appeared that the rain had cleared up. He stood and pulled the bedspread up to Marinette's chest, then he set the book on her bedside table. He stared at her for a moment, then leaned down and kissed her forehead.

"Sleep well, Princess."


	3. Chapter Two

Marinette awoke to her phone ringing a familiar song playing in her room. She recognized it as Alya's favorite song that she had set as her personalized ringtone. _But why was she calling? And why was she asleep?_

Marinette managed to make herself sit up in her bed, despite how tired she was. She looked over at the clock on her bedside table which blinked back 7:41 PM. She grabbed her phone and pressed the answer button.

"Hello?" She said groggily.

"Girl, what the hell have you been doing?" Alya's frustrated voice shouted through the speaker of her phone.

Marinette yawned, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. "Huh?"

"I've called you, like, ten times!"

"Oh, sorry." Marinette stood up and set her phone to speaker, then walked over to her desk to start sorting papers. "I was going to do some chores but then Chat came over and we read Harry Potter and I fell asleep- sorry, I got off track. What are you calling me for?"

"What?" Alya screeched. "No, forget all that. Chat, as in Chat Noir came over to your house. And you read Harry Potter together. Girl, what are you not telling me?"

"Shut up!" Marinette squeaked. "We're just friends. No, not even that, just acquaintances."

"Did you cuddle with him while you read? Oh, I'd die just to get that close to him- for an interview, I mean. Did you kiss him? Did you-"

"Goodbye, Alya!" Marinette disconnected the call and flopped down face first on her bed with a sigh.

Marinette recounted the experience she just had with the masked superhero. She swore she felt him kiss her forehead just before she fell asleep completely, but she assured herself that she had imagined it. Though he may be a smartass and a flirt, Marinette inwardly sighed, he was still kinda hot.

Moments later, her phone rang again.

"What, Alya?" Marinette tried to sound pissed but even she could hear the smile in her own voice.

"I'm sorry for badgering you about Chat Noir. But hey, the rain's cleared up, do you still want to go grab some waffles?"

Marinette hadn't even noticed that the sound of raindrops against the roof had gone absent. "Yeah, how's 8:15? We'll meet up at the usual place, yeah?"

"Sounds good! See you then." The line went dead.

Marinette set her phone down and walked over to her sliding glass door. She admired the beautiful city of Paris right at her fingertips. She'd have to go for a run about the city as Ladybug on patrol later that night,

A pang of sadness hit her chest as she turned away to start getting ready for her usual appointment with Alya. She decided on a dress she designed herself, a peach colored sundress with a silver waist belt. It meant a lot to her; the beautiful fabrics were from China. Her parents had gotten them for her on her birthday. She slipped on a light purple mini jacket and grabbed her purse, then stared at her figure in the mirror. She sighed, remembering how everyone had stared at her in awe when she first wore it to school. Even Adrien.

Adrien.

How hypocritical of her! She was over here thinking about some stray cat when she already had a crush on the love of her life. She couldn't believe she would do that to him. Even though they weren't dating...

Her parents were on holiday, so she didn't have to worry about them badgering her about where she was going. She turned away and walked out of the bakery, locking the doors as she went. Before she walked towards the bus stop, she looked up to the roof tops and clouds, and she could've sworn she saw a flash of black jump from roof to roof.

* * *

Of course, Marinette missed the school bus. And the city bus.

She either had the choice of waiting for the next bus to arrive at the stop about one hour from now or walk five blocks and possibly be a little late.

She chose the latter. She always enjoyed her walks through Paris, no matter how many times she's seen it all. Marinette had a way of seeing things the way others couldn't. It was part of her amazing artistic ability. The way the sunset painted the sky every evening was magical, the sounds of cars driving by was music to her ears.

Speaking of cars, one drove by just now through a puddle which splashed Marinette, leaving her soaked.

"Ugh, dammit!" She mustered under her breath.

"Oh, darling! You're drenched!" A feminine and foreign accent called from the alleyway directly behind Marinette. She swiveled around to see a girl who looked about her age yet was a couple inches shorter than her. "Here, come into my mum's shop. She has some towels on hand."

Marinette was suspicious, as she should be, but what harm could this tiny girl do? She followed her into the shop, which was conveniently located right beside the alleyway.

The shop had a sign above the door that read "Ye Olde Book & Magic Shoppe". When the girl pushed open the door, the welcoming smell of old books and incense hit Marinette's nose. The girl walked her to what she assumed was the lobby when she suddenly spun around. "Wait here."

The girl ran off to what Marinette hoped was to get a towel. Marinette took in her surroundings, looking at all the books and strange objects- hopefully not weapons. She shuddered at the thought, _what had she just gotten herself into?_

Before she knew it, the girl was back in a snap with towels in hand. "Here, take these."

"Thank you." Marinette started to dry herself off. This reminded her of when she had gotten the towels to dry Chat off. Just to think that all of it happened a few hours ago baffled her.

"Oh, how rude of me! I haven't introduced myself!" The girl gasped, shaking Marinette from her thoughts. "My name's Gwendolyn, but my friends call me Gwen."

"I'm Marinette. Nice to meet you, Gwen." Marinette smiled. "I really like the shop!"

"Oh, thanks! Yeah, my mum set it up. We just moved from Manchester. Jus' me and my mum. She runs the whole shop. I help sometimes, of course. Oh yeah, I'm going to the school around the block starting next week." Gwen stopped herself. "Sorry, didn't realize I was babbling."

"No, it's fine! I actually go to that school!" Marinette smiled.

"Oh, great!" Gwen's face lit up. "At least I'll know someone there on my first day!"

Marinette giggled. She liked this new girl and she couldn't wait to tell Alya, Nino, and... Adrien.

Gwen must've noticed Marinette's expression change, because she now was trying to shake Marinette from her thoughts.

"-nette? Hello? Marinette!"

"Hm?" Marinette's head shot up. "Oh! Sorry, I was just lost in thought."

"I know that look. That's the look my girl Michelle gets when she's hung up over a boy!" Gwen squealed. "Spill!"

_Oh, you're just as bad as Alya!_ Marinette thought. But was she really going to tell everything to someone she just met?

* * *

"So this model boy, you can't get a word out when you're 'round him?"

Marinette sighed for probably the hundredth time today. "Yeah. I just get so flustered..."

"What about the bad boy? The one you read with, were you flustered?" Gwen was chomping down Marinette's love crisis like it was a Christmas dinner buffet.

"No," Marinette shook her head firmly, "And it's probably because I think of him as a friend. Nothing more!"

"I see." Gwen said mysteriously. She refilled her tea cup and offered some to Marinette, who politely declined. "You've got a real case of two-love-itis."

"Two-love what?" Marinette scoffed, amused.

"Two-love-itis." Gwen repeated, her tone so serious it was funny. "When you fancy two people and can't seem to choose one over the other. I've seen many cases of it in my time."

"But I chose! I chose Adrien!" Marinette protested.

Gwen rolled her eyes and smirked. "Did you really, though?"

Marinette pondered on that for a moment. "What do you mean?"

Gwen stared at her strangely then bounced out of her seat, startling Marinette. She ran to a bookshelf and plucked one from the crowd. She then carefully handed it to Marinette.

"'How to Win at Love'? Why-"

"Just go with it," Gwen winked. "And thank me when you finish it!"


	4. Chapter Three

"Yes," Marinette nodded. "I would like that. Oh, does that come with fries?"

Alya and Marinette were checking out the traditional Hart's menu even though Alya got the same thing every time- the all you can eat waffles. They were sitting at their favorite table in the diner, the booth by the back with the amazing view of the Eiffel Tower.

"Yes, it comes with fries and a drink." The waitress piped cheerfully.

"Hm," Marinette thought, "Can I get a diet coke with that, then?"

"Sure! Will that be all?" The waitress wrote down her order on the small notepad in her hands.

"Yes, thank you." Marinette thanked her.

The waitress just smiled and glided off on her roller skates. Hart's was a '50's style Eastern diner that was popular in America. The waitresses wore traditional diner dresses and roller skates and the radio was always playing Elvis Presley.

Alya looked up from her phone. "So."

Marinette quirked an eyebrow. "So what?"

"So, what happened with Chat Noir?" Alya leaned closer with her elbows on the table.

"Alya, I thought we dropped this." Marinette sighed, dropping her head on the table.

"Alright, alright, fine." Alya groaned in defeat. "Let's talk about that girl, Grace?"

"Gwen." Marinette corrected her. "And there's nothing much to say, besides the fact that she just moved here and that she'll be going to our school soon."

The girls were left in an awkward silence as Alya stared at Marinette expectantly, while Marinette gave her the traditional 'I'm not giving you what you want' smirk.

Alya rest her chin in the palm of her hand. "Fine, if you won't talk, I will. Did I tell you about the date I had with Nino yesterday? We went to go see that new Avengers movie..."

Alya trailed off, staring at the entrance to the diner. Marinette turned to see Nino and Adrien walking towards them and laughing at something one of them said.

"Hey, dudettes!" Nino practically shouted as he approached the girls, causing strange glances from some of the customers and staff.

"Hey Nino, Adrien!" Alya greeted them, quieter than her boyfriend. "What're you guys doing here?"

"Well, we were going to grab a snack, but Mister I'm-A-Model-24/7 here has special "dietary restrictions" in place." Nino rolled his eyes and nudged Adrien in the side with his elbow.  
"Have a seat, then." Alya grinned and scooted over for Nino as Marinette did the same for Adrien.

Once the boys were comfortable, Alya blabbed about how the homework was getting harder at school. Marinette wasn't paying attention; she was focused on trying not to say or do anything awkward around Adrien.

"Ooh, hey Marinette, can I tell them about what happened today?"

Marinette blinked, surprised and dazed. "Tell them what-"

"Okay, so apparently today, someone got a visit from Ch-"

Marinette's eyes widened. "I have to go powder my nose." Marinette said, "Come with me Alya."

Alya just gave her a weird look. "Girl, what? Are you okay?"

Marinette just gave her a deadpanned stare. "It wasn't a question."

* * *

"Why?" Marinette whisper-shouted and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Why would you do that?"

"Do what?" Alya crossed her arms over her chest, "Tell our friends an actual superhero visited you today?"

"No!" Marinette whined. "You were about to tell Adrien that I practically cheated on him!"

"Girl, that doesn't make sense." Alya laughed sarcastically. "How can you cheat on someone if you're not with them?"

"I just feel... guilty." Marinette crossed her arms and stared down at her shoes.

Alya squeezed Marinette's shoulder. "There's no reason you should feel guilty. You were being your kind self by helping Chat Noir out of the rain."

"Thanks, Alya." Marinette had tears running down her cheeks. "I was just being kind. Nothing more than platonic."

Marinette gripped the edge of the bathroom sink and looked at herself in the mirror, boy was she a mess. Her hair was frizzy, her eyes were red, and her cheeks were puffy. "I'm going to use the bathroom. You can go back out there if you want.

"Alright." Alya gave her a sad smile. "Text me if you need anything."

Marinette locked herself in the handicap stall and slid to the floor, on the verge of tears. She opened her purse and Tikki came flying out. At first, she had a wide smile on her face, then turned to a sad frown when she saw her friend. "Oh, Marinette."

"I'm okay." She lied as streams began to trickle down her face.

Tikki began to wipe her tears away. "Everything's going to be okay, Marinette. You always have me and Alya."

"I'm just so confused, Tikki!" Marinette hid her face in her hands. "I like Adrien, but Chat..." Marinette's voice was drowned out in her own sobs.

Tikki began to nuzzle herself into the crook of Marinette's neck in her own form of giving comfort to the girl. Marinette stroked Tikki's small head as she composed herself. "I'm sorry for breaking down like this, Tikki. I just feel so torn. I can't seem to see straight anymore. I had my heart set on Adrien, but now I just feel so confused." Marinette sobbed.

"It's okay Marinette, everybody breaks down sometimes, even me, and it's okay to be confused about this!" Tikki gave her a sympathetic smile. "I know you are brave and strong whether you have a mask on or not, no matter the problem. So, I know you can push through this!"

Marinette wiped her eyes giggled. "Thanks, Tikki." She patted the little Kwami's head and gave her a chocolate chip cookie from her purse. Marinette shakily reached into her backpack and grabbed the book Gwen had given her earlier.

"Well, might as well give myself something to do while I calm down. Besides, what have I got to lose?" She opened the cover, which read 'How to Win at Love' in fancy cursive and flipped to the first page.

"Chapter One, Step One" Marinette whispered aloud. "Getting His Attention."


End file.
